 China have yet to be seriously tested in these Games |
China's domination of the table tennis continued unabated as the men's and women's teams both cruised into the semi-finals with ease. The men secured comprehensive 3-0 defeats of both Australia and Austria, while the women enjoyed a similar result against the Austrians. "We're getting better match by match and getting more used to the atmosphere here," said men's coach Liu Guoliang. "Beating Austria was our best match yet against our strongest opponent." The men's toughest match saw world champion Wang Hao get himself out of difficulty after unexpectedly struggling against Australia's world number 147 William Henzell.  | 606: DEBATE |
"The main thing is that it was good mental training for me, mastering the pressure, which will be a big help for other matches," said Wang. Henzell, who won the first game and got to 10-10 in the second, said: "It feels a bit bitter that I couldn't get across the line but it was the match of my life." In the second match against Austria, Ma Lin and Wang finished things off with a 11-7 5-11 11-4 11-9 win in the doubles. China's women were no less ruthless, with all the matches going their way. "In the next round all the possible opponents are quite strong, so preparing is the key," said women's world number one Zhang Yining.
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